Devotions (Page 55)

Having grown up with memory verses in Sunday School, as well as in my Bible classes at school-school (shout out to NTCS!), meant that there are certain phrases that have made themselves at home in my memory banks… Every now and then they pop into the forefront of my mind and it happened again the other day! I was in the backyard enjoying some fresh air and realized that the flowers I’d been caring for way back in August were…

Psalm 50:23“He who offers a sacrifice of thanksgiving honours Me; And to him who orders his way arightI shall show the salvation of God.”    – NASB The life that pleases Me is a life lived in the gratitude of grace,always choosing to walk with Me in what is right.This is the sacrifice I desire from you.If you do this, more of my salvationwill unfold for you.”       – The Passion Translation The theme for today’s devotion “Sacrifice of Thanksgiving” is adapted…

I hope you all had a wonderful time with your family during the Thanksgiving weekend. If you missed Sunday’s message you can find it on youtube:  October 11 – https://youtu.be/XXdHmTs1k-4 After hearing the message about thanksgiving, I hope you would include these in your thoughts of Thanksgiving: Thanksgiving is a sign of Maturity Read Job 1 – Pay attention to his response to God  Thanksgiving is a weapon Read 2 Chronicles 20:15-22 – Notice how the battle was won, not…

2 Peter 1:5-8: “For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.” At Life-Spring, we’re now on our third memory verse for the year.…

1 Timothy 1: 18-20 (NLT) Timothy’s Responsibility 18 Timothy, my son, here are my instructions for you, based on the prophetic words spoken about you earlier. May they help you fight well in the Lord’s battles. 19 Cling to your faith in Christ, and keep your conscience clear. For some people have deliberately violated their consciences; as a result, their faith has been shipwrecked. 20 Hymenaeus and Alexander are two examples. I threw them out and handed them over to Satan…

Encouragement to Give Generously We want you to know, brothers, about the grace of God that has been given among the churches of Macedonia, 2 for in a severe test of affliction, their abundance of joy and their extreme poverty have overflowed in a wealth of generosity on their part. 3 For they gave according to their means, as I can testify, and beyond their means, of their own accord, 4 begging us earnestly for the favor of taking part…

My people are destroyed from lack of knowledge.“Because you have rejected knowledge,    I also reject you as my priests;because you have ignored the law of your God,    I also will ignore your children. – (Hosea 4:6 NIV) Return, Israel, to the Lord your God… “I will heal their waywardness and love them freely,    for my anger has turned away from them. I will be like the dew to Israel; he will blossom like a lily. – (Hosea 14:1, 4-5 NIV) Hosea prophesied during the time of the Divided Kingdom of…

The more we speak about maturing and growing in our spirituality, the more I see us being called to action! One of the most beautiful things about the Gospel – the Good News – is that it can/will look like so many different things! There isn’t just one way to live out and experience the Gospel. Good News to me might look a little different to me than it does to you… Even though it might be a bit of…

“But as you excel in everything — in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in all earnestness, and in our love for you – see that you excel in this act of grace also. –  2 Corinthians 8:7 ESV The “act of grace” that the Apostle Paul was referring to in this verse is the grace to give generously. Giving was definitely is not “second nature” to me. Giving money away for sure is not even “third nature” to me. And lets not even talk about “giving generously”. Over the years as I grew my “stone of the past” in my relationship with God, I was able to slay the “giant” of stinginess with…

SONG OF SONGS 8:5-7 Friends5 Who is this coming up from the wildernessleaning on her beloved? SheUnder the apple tree I roused you;there your mother conceived you,there she who was in labor gave you birth.6 Place me like a seal over your heart,like a seal on your arm;for love is as strong as death,its jealousy[a] unyielding as the grave.It burns like blazing fire,like a mighty flame.[b]7 Many waters cannot quench love;rivers cannot sweep it away.If one were to giveall the…

1 Corinthians 13:13 “And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.” In September we launched a new memory verse for the church family, 2 Peter 1:5-8. Before that, two of our memory verses were the greatest commandment (Matthew 22:36-39) and the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23). Look at parts of these verses and see if you can spot the theme: Love the Lord your God with all your heart (Matt 22:36-39)The…

This past Sunday we continued our series on Living Generously. Whenever I think of generosity I always think of finances – but there is so much more than just finances! TIMENot everyone will have $, but everyone is given time. We must look at our lives and ask God if we are stewarding the time He has given us to the best of our ability. Sometimes it is clear when our time is being robbed (aimless social media, facebook, etc.)…